I’m Frankie Kennedy. Welcome to Naked News. Now, obviously, we as a society have a long way to go, but it’s been interesting to see more and more big institutions embracing anti-racism. Over the last few days, we’ve seen a lot of examples, everything from tech giants to THE DICTIONARY. Eila’s got the details right now in the Naked Newsroom!
Frankie, IBM is doing an about-face, literally! CEO Arvind Krishna sent a letter to Congress in support of racial equality initiatives, and in it noted that IBM will no longer develop or research facial recognition technology. He also added that IBM won’t condone any technology being used for mass surveillance, racial profiling, or violations of basic human rights and freedoms. We’ll have to see what happens going forward, but it’s big for IBM to acknowledge that technology isn’t neutral!
IBM isn’t the only organization writing Congress. Over a THOUSAND athletes from the NFL, the NBA and Major League Baseball are supporting a bill which would end qualified immunity. Quick background: ‘qualified immunity’ means plaintiffs need to show government officials violated “clearly established” law to receive damages. This standard has been taken to such an extreme that police can basically get away with almost anything. To read the letter, go to the Players Coalition Twitter account, and see which of your favorite athletes are on board!
Language is constantly evolving, and as a result, so is the dictionary. Merriam-Webster is changing the definition of ‘racism’ after being prompted by a recent college graduate. Kennedy Mitchum was inspired to write in because she had to deal with a lot of people who pointed to the dictionary to argue they weren’t racist. That’s because the definition as written basically spoke only to overt racism. An editor agreed, Frankie, replying they would get to work on a revision, one that would also include the SYSTEMIC aspects of racism!
Makes sense, and I know it’s a separate issue, but a nice reminder to those anti-gay marriage people that definitions can actually change!
Yep! I’d do a long rant about how dynamic and incredible language is… but words fail me!
Well played, Eila Adams! See you in a bit. They say the brain is the body’s biggest sexual organ, so we shouldn’t be surprised that all the senses are involved in turning you on, including your ears! Audio porn is hotter then ever right and Isabella going to tell you why it’s Trending Now.
